With the recession forcing people to look for the best bargains they can find and auto auction gaining in popularity, the problem many people face is understanding auto auction prices. When buying a car from a dealer, there is always a sticker price which you can use as a starting point while you do your negotiations to bring the price done. Auto action prices are not based on any sticker or list price: they depend purely on what the demand is for the car and how high bidders are willing to go. The opening price at which the bidding starts is also not rigid: if there is no response to that price, it can be lowered by the auctioneer.
If you want to understand auto auction prices, the best thing to do is to spend time at the auctions simply watching how the bidding progresses. Just sit and watch and you will get an idea of which makes command the best price, how the age of a car affects its selling price and how the bidding proceeds: how much is the general increase over the previous bid and so on. All this will give you an detailed understanding of both how the bidding normally progresses and also a ballpark figure of the comparative selling prices of different makes. Pay special attention to the way the auctions progress for the types and makes of cars you are interested in bidding for: this will give you something to base your future course of action upon.
Auto auction websites and magazines are another good source of information on auto auction prices. Once you have a working idea of what the kinds of car you are interested in are going to cost you, you will need to set yourself budgets. Remember that what you have studied so far are the kind of prices that are likely to prevail in the auctions you attend: there is no guarantee that the price may not go higher if there is a bidding wear between interested potential buyers. Try and be as flexible as you can in your budgeting (without being extravagant), so you are able to meet other bidders head on if you need to: but whatever may be the circumstances, never exceed your budget because once you go down that road, getting back to what you can afford can be impossible.
No matter how much you may want a car, stay away from bidding wars that can push up auto auction prices and make buying the car impractical: the whole point of an auto auction is to get a good car at a cheap price.